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I understand that in different phenotypes things like oral cavity vary but in terms of ethnic groups they don't. Like, can you tell an Amerindian Latino apart from a European descended one? Or African? Because it is true that Blacks speak as lower registers but a lot of that could be carryover from West African languages.
Also when you consider that physically speaking many Indians have the same oral cavity size as Europeans, how do you propose they would sound differently? Sounds like a neat theory but i doubt you can tell in highly Americanized populations especially between Whites and Asians whom have a smaller oral cavity variance than say, Blacks and Asians.
I've rarely been wrong.
I am of Indian descent and lived in an international community in another Asian country growing up, so maybe my ear is more tuned to it.
I also speak 5 languages and can pick up new ones super easy.
Finally (and super-embarrassing), as I speak to any person, I inadvertently start mimicking their accent, inflection, and word choice.
Didn't most Pittsburgh Blacks move there from the South, though? They don't have the traditional caught-cot merger, down=dahn Pittsburgh accent
Pretty sure all African Americans moved from the south. So most blacks in Pittsburgh are originally from the south just like LA just like Chicago, ect.
In my limited experience, a lot of Blacks speak exactly like Whites, and a lot of Blacks are readily identifiable as Black by their pronunciation ("accent"), regardless of the words. A handful of Blacks may be identifiable regardless of their pronunciation - I believe that James Earl Jones may be an example, although I would be interested in hearing whether others share this opinion.
I can definitely tell them apart with little difficulty. I'm sure there are examples however of people who are a bit more difficult to tell.
For instance, take an adopted black child and have them raised in a white neighborhood, by white parents, I don't think that their accent would differ much if at all. Same in the reverse scenario.
Pretty sure all African Americans moved from the south. So most blacks in Pittsburgh are originally from the south just like LA just like Chicago, ect.
True. I was just saying that Pittsburgh is an Appalachian dialect that tends to be only spoken by Whites. Some cities whether Appalachian or not have distinct racial variances. It just seems to be the prevailing thought in this thread that Appalachian Blacks sound like Whites. Someone then brought up Pittsburgh which is an Appalachian city, but I believe the Pittsburgh linguistic situation is very much racially varied.
In my opinion you're more likely to hear a Black person from Philly sound more White before you hear a Black person from Pittsburgh sound White.
Is Asheville Appalachian? It would be interesting to hear what those hillbilly hippies sound like.
Pittsburgh is an Appalachian city where only the White population has a distinctively unique dialect heard only there. I never ever saw Blacks in Pittsburgh who spoke that odd almost English/ Scottish hybrid accent. The Pittsburgh accent seems to be really a White thing.
Yep, I heard some 2nd generation Mexican Americans who were born and raised in them hills north of Knoxville and they sounded hillbilly (Randy Moss type of accent)....No trace of a Latin background. I would think that Asheville's Appalachian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool
Now the ATL White accent to me isn't Appalachian but it also differs a lot from the Southern accents in general. It has a very Midwest nasal quality and the speakers therein could fit in lots of the Lower Midwest or the Mid-Atlantic. Like if a White person from ATL told me they were from Ohio or Kansas I would just say "ok".
But the Black ATL accent is super drawled out and country sounding IMO. T.I. sounds like a good Ole boy and most ATL Blacks I find have a very stereotypical Southern drawl. I don't know why the Whites don't. But then again the same thing happened to Charleston Whites who went from sounding Irish Caribbean to sounding Midwestern all of a sudden. Or how NOLA whites at one point sounded French and now they sound like big city Yankees.
That Black ATL accent that you hear is the hood accent, popular in Bankhead and areas like that (enunciation is optional with this one). Transplants and their children tend not to adopt this accent. Black Atlantans would tend to be partially non-rhotic (or full blown) which is trait that Appalachian accents lack as you know.
Yep, I heard some 2nd generation Mexican Americans who were born and raised in them hills north of Knoxville and they sounded hillbilly (Randy Moss type of accent)....No trace of a Latin background. I would think that Asheville's Appalachian.
That Black ATL accent that you hear is the hood accent, popular in Bankhead and areas like that (enunciation is optional with this one). Transplants and their children tend not to adopt this accent. Black Atlantans would tend to be partially non-rhotic (or full blown) which is trait that Appalachian accents lack as you know.
I think there actually are a lot of places in the South, including Appalachia, with growing Mexican populations.
Can't you tell white and black people apart just by their speaking 98% of time???
Yes but in the South it gets tricky because African American English originates there.
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